Things to Consider before Transporting Your Vehicle

Driving your car for a long distance may be tiring and stressful. But if you hire a professional auto transport company you don’t have to worry as they will transport your car properly to your specified destination. Your work will be reduced.

Before transporting your vehicle, you should prepare it for transportation. Firstly, your car must be roadworthy. This is because employees of the auto transport company have to drive it on and off the transporter. Do wash your car before transporting your vehicle for inspection purpose. Do check are there any scratches and dents. Make sure your car is free from leaks. Your car will be transported in batches on one large transporter. You may be responsible if any leakage of fluids occur from you car and damages other cars during transit. Make sure your gas tank is less than a quarter. Other fluids such as break and suspension fluids have room for expansion.

Try to remove accessories your car have. This includes antennae and wide mirrors on the outside of your car and after market CD players on the inside. Disable the alarm in the car. Remove all the personal possessions from the car because Transport Company will not take any responsibility. In fact, Department of Transportation (DOT) does not permit the transport of personal belongings in vehicle transported on auto carriers. Make sure you drive your car to a pick-up point agreed between you and the car transport company.

Finally consider the climatic conditions. If you’re planning to ship your car to Alaska, it would be wise to put anti-freeze into your car before shipping. Do check your heating or air conditioning systems. You can go in for covered transport also as it will protect your vehicle against sun, heat etc.

Before shipping your vehicle do check all the car shipping documents. The key document involved in car transport is bill of lading. This document outlines all the terms and conditions of the agreement between you and the auto car transport company. Bill of lading is a document in which any damages that have already occurred in the car are written. It is important that customer checks bill of lading document carefully before signing it. As any future claims for damages will be made on the basis of the information in this report, you need to check it carefully before signing. Both you and a representative of the car transport company have to sign this both before and after loading. If your car is damaged during transit, you have two weeks to file a complaint.

Ask the transport company do they provide insurance. Your vehicle should be insured against damage and theft by your auto transport company. If you’re transporting your car by ocean container, it has to be professionally packed for the insurance to be valid.